The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which claims partial
credit for a recent recommendation by a scientific panel that alcohol be
listed as a carcinogen, has begun a campaign to add more restrictive
language on drinking to the U.S. Dietary Guidelines.
CSPI argues-in a 16-page letter to the advisory panel that will decide
any language changes to the guidelines for the year 2000-that the wine
industry is using the guidelines as part of a "drink for your health"
marketing strategy.
"In our opinion, the Wine Institute, and possibly the other alcoholic
beverage marketers, will take advantage of every possible opening to
portray the consumption of alcoholic beverages as a 'healthy choice' for
consumers," the letter states.
Changes made in 1995 to the guidelines adding statements that drinking
moderately was not unhealthy. The guidelines have been the cornerstone of
the wine industry's efforts to educate the public about scientific evidence
showing that one-to-two glasses of wine per day can lead to a longer and
healthier life. The move by CSPI assures that the wine-health debate will
be the most contentious public policy issue in 1999 for vintners. Alcohol
control advocates plan to couple the wine-health issue with a simultaneous
campaign to restrict alcohol-related advertising.
"We need a policy [on alcohol advertising] that mirrors those we've
imposed on tobacco," George Hacker, CSPI's
alcohol policies director, told the Washington Times last week.
CSPI's new campaign over the guidelines asks the panel to:
Ãž Drop the word "moderation" from the alcohol section, which reads: "If you
drink...do so in moderation." CSPI recommends the phrase "no more than one
drink per day."
Ãž Add the phrase: "Alcohol is a potentially addictive drug, and
approximately 10% of those who choose to drink will develop alcoholism."
Ãž Delete the phrase "alcoholic beverages have been used to enhance the
enjoyment of meals throughout human history." CSPI calls the statement
"gratuitous, unnecessary and irrelevant."
Ãž Add a statement that one-to-two drinks per day is associated with an
increased risk of breast cancer for women.
In October of 1997, CSPI published a tract titled Vintage Deception
that accused the wine industry of engaging in "commercial propaganda to
market wine as a health food."
John De Luca, president of the Wine Institute, issued a unusual direct
public response: "Our research dissemination is intended to counter the
political campaigns that push for higher taxes, trade limitations and
advertising restrictions on wine and governmental infringements on
constitutional rights." WMR

Jerry, just this morning on one of the morning news shows they were trumpeting YET ANOTHER study saying that wine was good for you and had a doctor recommending some everyday! Can someone find out which study this was, I seem to remember something about "the biggest and most conclusive yet" but I hadn't had my espresso yet let alone a mind stimulating glass of vino.

Roberto

Also, Can we get a volunteer to go on the air and challenge that little weasel who runs CSPI to a "lifestyle comparison" on the order of :

YOU stay in San Diego, eat tofu, avoid Chinese Food, Movie Popcorn, Meat and Wine, have boring missionary sex once a year with your pasty skinned vegan significant other

and

I'LL travel the world, eat what I want, drink what I want and have hedonistic pleasure with whomever I want and we'll see who has a better "quality of life". Ready, Set, Go!

Rich Cartiere dug up this tidbit too: (apologies for the strange formatting)

I've discovered why CSPI is having such a problem with making the
connnection between wine and health...this just in...

LONDON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - A glass and a half of wine a day could help stave
off
neurodegenerative diseases such as
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, according to
research published on Thursday.

Italian scientists, reporting in the
British journal New Scientist, said a natural
chemical produced by vines and
concentrated in both grapes and wine triggers a
seven-fold increase in the activity and
effectiveness of an enzyme called
mapkinase. Mapkinase stimulates and
regenerates nerve cells.

Alberto Bertelli and his team at Milan
University said they had tested the chemical
-- called reservatrol -- on human neural
nerves and found it made the cells grow
small extensions through which they could
connect with neighbouring cells.

According to the team, the process can be
replicated in people by drinking a glass
and a half of wine a day.

``Reservatrol allows the brain cells to
get themselves connected to one another
again. It is this reconstruction that
which reactivates the ability of the elderly to
remember,'' Bertelli said.

``By daily reinforcing these contacts, we
can prevent neuro degeneration,'' he
added.